


Notes in Time

by Mysterious_Prophetess



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Post Movie, based off my tumblr headcanons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-30 17:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8542714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterious_Prophetess/pseuds/Mysterious_Prophetess
Summary: Series of One-Shots Post Movie.5: En Memoria.... Remembering those loved ones that are lost





	1. Set 1: (I’ve Been) Searchin' So Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1: Poppy needs Branch's help, but the troll she sends looking for him has trouble finding him at first.

Queen Poppy was still the same troll she’d ever been before the Trolls had reclaimed the Troll Tree, which meant she really didn’t have any idea how to handle her current crisis.

“Queen Poppy, we’ve been running the numbers, and we’ve reached a conclusion; the Tree cannot support all the pods needed to house the whole population of our people,” an architect troll with bright green hair and light yellow skin said.

“But we all fit before!” Poppy said.

“Well, with twenty years of _not_ having parts of our population eaten on a yearly basis, our numbers have managed to shoot up quite a bit. When we were at the village, it was a simple matter of expansion. Here we have few options,” another troll said. One of the oldest trolls aside from her dad. This one had blue hair and purple skin. His name was River.

“How many Trolls can we house with the tree?” Poppy asked.

“Around two thirds of our total population before strain starts to affect the tree,” River said. Poppy sighed. Her Dad had made this seem _so_ easy. She would rather be singing and dancing than planing something so _not_ fun and wait! She had an expert on not fun! She looked at one of the trolls she was meeting with, a green and bright purple haired lady troll named Viola. She was one of the trolls in charge of making the pods.

“Viola, I have an idea but I need you to go find Branch,” Poppy said.

“Branch?” How can he help?”

“You remember that insane bunker of his right?” Poppy said. The other trolls looked from one another before they seemed to follow what she was saying.

“Find him right away!” River said. Viola nodded and scampered out of the meeting room.

_“_ _As my life goes on I believe_

_Somehow something's changed_

_Something deep inside_

_Ooh a part of me._ ” She sang as she walked and looked down on all colorful hair below trying to catch sight of the hair belong to Branch. Shouldn’t be too hard, he was the only troll with such dark colored hair. He should be easy to find! 

Half an hour and a new song later, Viola saw a flash of electric-blue-violet hair and slapped herself. Of course! His hair wasn’t black _anymore_. She swung down and saw this troll was Branch: the _new-blue_ Branch. 

“Queen Poppy would like to see you!” Viola said landing next to him. He raised an eyebrow but shrugged before following her back to the chamber.

———————————— ————————————————

“….and that’s the situation. My plan is, could you maybe make a bunch of underground living spaces that won’t compromise the exit tunnel?” Poppy said. Branch held his chin in his hand as he thought running through all the possibilities and nodded,

“As long as we dig far away from the tunnel, I don’t see why not, We’re going to need multiple lifts and levels and tools,” Branch said. The others nodded.

“Let’s break for now before we begin to start the planning stage for the underground homes,” Poppy said.

———————————————————————————————————————————

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: “ (I’ve Been) Searchin' So Long” Chicago
> 
> This is my second _Trolls_ fic on here. These will be mostly drabble based and based on my own head canons. Some of which are on tumblr (my URL is the same as my AO3 penname).


	2. Set 2: Dig It Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Branch, while helping to dig the new living areas for the homeless trolls, realizes that change is slow and hard to recognize.

Branch was impressed with how hard the other trolls could work, at times, didn’t stop them from singing songs,

_“Dig it uh oh oh oh, dig it. Dig it uh oh oh. Oh.Dig it uh oh oh oh, dig it. Dig it uh oh oh. Oh.”_

Branch joined in,

_“Take a troll and make him dig 5 feet, the dirt in these shovels will give us a beat._ ” The others stopped singing. 

“Who was that?”

“They were amazing!” Branch rolled his eyes and just started a new song.

“ _In the end, You dig yourself the hole you're in, When you don't know what you want, You just repeat yourself again, In the end, You just repeat yourself again, When you don't know who you are, You dig yourself the hole you're in_.” The trolls nearest him realized it was him after that and joined in.

“ _(Don't worry), It's only in your mind,(Don't worry), But I do, From time to time_.”

—————————————————————————————————————

“ _…And it's hello babe with your guardian eyes so blue. Hey my baby don't you know our love is true_.” Branch smiled as he turned around to see Poppy had joined him and the other digging trolls.

“Lunch is ready!” She said. The other trolls left literal dust trails as they left the tunnel they had been diggingwith Branch. 

“I brought us a picnic lunch,” Poppy said with a grin. Branch smiled back at her and followed her out of the tunnels, “I’m amazing at how much you all have done already.”

“We still have a lot of digging ahead of us. It took me months just to dig my bunker,” Branch said. Poppy gave him a look,

“You were by yourself, this is with everyone. Surely it’ll go faster than that?”

“Maybe, if we maintain our current speed, it might take a month We just need these tunnels wide enough for two rows of troll pods down each side,” Branch said once they excited into the sunshine filtering down through the Troll Tree’s leaves. 

“It happened again.” Branch said.

“What? Oh. Well, people just have to get used to you singing,” Poppy said, “I mean it’s hard for some of them to fully make the connection between your amazing voice and you. I wasn’t the only troll who thought maybe the reason you didn’t sing was because you had a bad voice.”

“Really?” Branch said.

“Hey, we both know your voice is wonderful,” Poppy said shoving him making the blue troll laugh a little before he dug into the food Poppy had made for them to share.

“ _I got, got a pocket full of sunshine, I’ve got a love and it’s all mine, Oh, oh whoa_.” Poppy sang.

“ _Do what you want, but you’re never gonna break me. Sticks and stones are never gonna shake me. No, oh whoa_.” Branch sang back. They didn’t notice the crowd as they continued together,

“ _Take me away (take me away). A secret place (a secret place). A sweet escape (a sweet escape). Take me away (take me away). Take me away (take me away). To better days (to better days). Take me away (take me away). A hiding place (a hiding place). The sun is on my side. Take me for a ride. I smile up to the sky, I know I’ll be all right._ ” They smiled at each other, slightly out of breath, and there was clapping. They turned to see a lot of trolls had listened to them singing.

“I still can’t believe you sound like that,” Guy Diamond said, “You need to sing more!” Branch shifted uncomfortably,

“Oh look, break time’s over. See you later, Poppy!” Branch gave her a quick hug before running back to the dig site. The other trolls dispersed too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Songs: “Dig It Up” Holes  
>  “Dig Your Own Hole” Gotye  
> “Supper’s Ready” Genesis  
> “Pocketful of Sunshine” Natasha Bedingfield_


	3. Set 3: Looking Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3:What do you get the Troll who means everything to you?

Branch inspected the tunnels. There were five levels of foot wide by a foot tall tunnels dug that were about ten feet long. The supports he’d shown the other trolls how to put in place were holding steady. There were two lifts on each end and these were wide enough for troll pods, since that was how the pods were being delivered. It was a cozy fit, but the trolls didn’t mind. The central “path” between the pods was wide enough for the trolls on each level to mingle during hug times. Though, Branch didn’t recommend that parties be thrown in the Troll Tunnels, as these were being called. The troll pod makers knew how much space there would be. That left only the delivery of the pods, and their placement inside. 

“We ready to go?” He turned to see it was Viola.

“Should be, just don’t go superloading the lifts,” Branch said. The troll nodded,

“We’ve got this covered, Branch. You’ve done your part. Go relax.” Relax? As if he knew how to do that, but he nodded before walking to the nearest lift to the surface. He exited the lift into the dusk of the day; the glowing pods hanging from the tree lighting up the night about him, as well as the street lamps on the streets of Bergen Town.

“Branch, hey Branch!” His ear twitched and he looked _way_ up to see it was Bridget on the edge of the green around the Troll Tree waving to him. Huh, he hadn’t realized the second exit was this close. He walked over to the pink haired bergen and used his hair to get up on a nearby bench the bergens had put there so they could talk to trolls easier. It had been Bridget’s idea. She was wearing the jumpsuit Chenille and Satin had made her and her pink hair was down.

“Hello, Bridget. Did you need to see Poppy?” It was weird to Branch, but the pink haired bergen had somehow become fast friends with Poppy. Then again, Poppy could befriend anyone. Look at him, for example.

“No. no. Well, I mean it’s going to be Poppy’s birthday soon and I was uh wondering if you had any ideas?” Bridget said. Branch felt like kicking himself. He’d almost forgotten.

“Tell me what you’re leaning towards and I’ll tell you if she’d like it,” Branch said.

“Well, I was uh wondering if I could bake her something,” Bridget said, “I’m not that bad a baker, and I uh wanted to give her something really special.”

“I’m sure she’d love it,” Branch said, “Poppy likes things her friends make for her.”

“Really! Ok, I’m going to make her the best cake ever.” Bridget said, “Thanks Branch. What are you doing for her?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet,” Branch said, “I’ve been busy with the Troll Tunnels.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine. I mean, those words you gave me before with King Gristle were awesome and totally romantic,” Bridget said before she left.

Branch walked back towards the Troll Tree.

“ _Oh tell me where I'm going. Tell me why I'm bound to tear the pages open. Turn the world around... I've seen everybody. Everybody's seen me, In the lookin' glass_.” 

Officially, Branch didn’t live in or on the Troll Tree. Instead he had a smaller version of his bunker he dug by the roots in-between shifts for the Troll Tunnels. He might sing, and dance, but he was still not used to being around other Trolls for extended periods of time and he didn’t know when he’d ever feel comfortable living up in a tree ever again. If anyone else noticed that his new bunker/house was _directly_ below Poppy’s bright pink troll pod Branch would plead ignorance, though Poppy knew better. Poppy….Think! There had to be _something_ he knew how to make that Poppy would like.

An hour later he was smacking his head on his table in the main area. He looked over at the new home for all the invitations he’d kept, and was struck by an idea.

—————————————————————————————————

The Trolls were in full force.

“ _So make a wish, We’re here to wish you a very happy day! We know you like it sweet, so you can have your cake, because we’re all here to celebrate. Happy. Birthday. Very Happy Birthday to Poppy!_ ” 

“ _We hear its the birthday troll’s big night. So we decided to celebrate. The party’s jumping, bursting full of light. We’re going crazy, all right_!”

_So make a wish, We’re here to wish you a very happy day! We know you like it sweet, so you can have your cake, because we’re all here to celebrate. Happy. Birthday. Very Happy Birthday to the Queen!_ ” Fireworks went off over the Troll Tree coating Bergen Town and the Trolls with glitter. All the Bergens had gathered around the tree with food spread out on tables that had been set up on the other side of the benches. Trolls had set up a platform for their Queen to stand on so she could see everything, including the massive pile of presents. Most were troll sized, but many were bergen sized. She recognized one of the smaller ones was from King Gristle. 

“Thanks everyone!” Poppy said, “Let’s ramp the party up, I’ll be over here at the cake my good friend Bridget baked!” The trolls cheered. Poppy hopped over to where the large cake sat. There was enough for all the trolls _and_ the bergens.

“I didn’t know you knew how to bake like this! This is amazing!” There were also decroations on the cake that, while crooked and squiggly, Poppy knew were the trolls and bergens dancing together, “I love it! I’m sure it tastes great!” Poppy found a troll sized plate and Bridget carefully cut her off a troll sized slice of cake. Poppy took a bite and gave Bridget a thumbs up.It was cut into by others, since the birthday girl had gotten her first piece.

“You really like it?” Bridget asked.

“I love it! You should become a full time baker!” Poppy said.

“I love it too!” King Gristle said holding up his half eaten piece, “I’d expect nothing less from my total babe!” Bridget blushed more, “Can I have one for my birthday too?

“Of course! I’ll make it even bigger!” Bridget said loudly. Though, since the party was already loud, it didn’t cause too much of a scene. King Gristle looked so touched by it, he was even slightly tearing up. Branch landed next to Poppy.

“Hey, Branch, try the cake!” Poppy said. He took a piece and chewed it and nodded at Bridget who was still off on cloud nine.

“Here, I wanted to hand you my gift myself,” He said after he was finished and pulled a small book shaped present from his hair. Poppy took it eagerly and tore off the paper revealing a scrapbook storybook. There were words off to the side and it was _their_ story. 

“I love it Branch! How did you learn how to do this?” Poppy said.

“From you,” Branch said.

“You were listening to my scrapbooking lessons.” Poppy said with a pleased look. Branch nodded. That, and he’d learned a lot over the years of patching the invitations he trashed back together. She reached the end and it popped up Poppy and Branch together and there was a tab for her to pull. She ended up coated in glitter. She hugged Branch around the neck.

“This is best gift ever.” she said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Let’s get back to the par-tay!” Poppy said sticking the book in her hair for safe keeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs: “Looking Glass.” The La’s  
> “Birthday” Katy Perry (I did alter the lyrics to fit better)  
> In the novelization, it ends with Branch giving her a scrapbook but since the novelization and the movie end differently, I’ve decided to make it so he doesn’t give her a scrapbook until now.


	4. Set 4: Changing Colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are times when even Branch forgets about recent changes.

Branch and Poppy were leading a group of Trolls back to the now abandoned Troll Village. Why? Because some of the Trolls had left their stuff behind and wanted it. It wasn’t a safe undertaking even with trolls that had undertaken the trip before and knew the dangers of the forest, like Branch and Poppy did. They’d had to save three trolls already from certain death. Branch pulled a troll away from a giant spider and whipped his hair at it. He blinked at the electric-blue- violet hair whip for a moment before remembering it was _his_ hair.

“We’re never going to make it,” a troll sobbed. He looked at Poppy who took the silent pleading and struck up a song.

“ _I hear a wind, whistling in the air, whispering in my ear_.” The other trolls immediately jumped in on the melody.

“ _Boy Mercury shooting through every degree. Oh girl dancing down those dirty and dusty trails Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness. Around the world the trip begins with a kiss_. _Roam if you want to, roam around the world._ ” 

——————— ———————————————————

“…. _Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness. Take it hip to hip, rocket through the wilderness!_ ” They arrived at the Troll Village by nightfall. The group had managed to find a faster path than the one Poppy and Branch took the first time by simply using the path the chefs had made the night before…it didn’t _really_ help to dwell on that.

“Alright, we’re spending the night here and making our way back in the morning!” Poppy said. The trolls with them cheered and ran about the abandoned village to their pods. Branch wandered over to his bunker and was dismayed to see a lot of his stuff had been wrecked by the whole of the village being crammed into his personal space. _Trolls_.His sleeping area, and where his table formerly sat (he’d retrieved it on an earlier trip) was in tact except for the things he’d taken with him the last time. He found an older picture of his class of trolls. Looking from his own now brightly colored hand against the picture of his formerly gray self was almost surreal. 

“ _'cause when the wind takes you, it takes me, too and when you change colors, i change mine, too._ ”

“Hi.” he turned to see Poppy was in his bedroom.

“Hi.”

“Do you mind if I spend the night down here? I’ve never lived alone-alone,” Poppy said.

“Of course,” Branch said smiling at her. Poppy gestured for the picture and looked at it.

“I had almost forgotten how young you were when you went gray,” Poppy said looking at the very young and scowling Branch in the photo. She was in a corner, maybe half the small Branch’s age at that moment.

“I sometimes forget I’m not gray anymore,” Branch said.

“Is that why you looked at your hair like that earlier?” Poppy said. Branch nodded.

“It’s ok to forget sometimes,” Poppy said, “It’s a big adjustment. I’ve even forgotten a few times. Like when I was inviting you to my birthday bash, I had to redo your invitation because I forgot to make your little “you” the right colors. I almost miss the Gray you, but I love your true colors so much more.”

“I like being my true colors more too,” Branch said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs “Changing Colours” Great Lake Swimmers   
> “Roam” The B-52’s


	5. Set 5: Colder Weather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> En Memoria....  
>  _Remembering those loved ones that are lost_

Back when he was gray, no one expected too much out of Branch aside from doing his own thing. In fact, many of the other trolls would have _preferred_ Branch sticking to doing his own thing in those days. Now that he had his colors, other trolls—Poppy and her Snack Pack in particular— expected more out of him all the time. Mostly, this is ok by him. He doesn’t mind the increased attention and interaction, most of the time. However, there are still times that he wants—no, _needs_ to be alone. This day was one of them: Grandma Rosiepuff’s birthday. He found the memorial garden had been revived by the older trolls, the ones who truly remembered the losses that came from Trollstice. They’d used a piece of the deteriorated cage as a marker and a reminder of what once was.

“ _Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…_ ” Branch looked up startled to see another older troll was in the memorial garden too. Branch laid down his small red flowers at the base of the cage bar.

“ _When I close my eyes I see you, No matter where I am.I can smell your perfume through these whispering pines. I’m with your ghost again. It's a shame about the weather. I know soon we'll be together, And I can't wait 'til then, I can't wait 'til then._ ” Branch heard some sniffles at the mournful song, but he ignored it until he heard a deeper voice begin,

“ _Baby, why'd you leave me, Why'd you have to go? I was counting on forever, now I'll never know. I can't even breathe. It's like I'm looking from a distance, Standing in the background, Everybody's saying, “She's not coming home now." This can't be happening to me. This is just a dream._ ” He looked over to see it was King-Father Peppy with a large bouquet of flowers.

“It was my wife’s birthday,” he said softly laying the flowers down next to the flowers Branch had already placed down.

“My Grandma’s,” Branch said. 

“Poppy was by earlier but she prefers to keep busy, but she also doesn’t really remember her, and that makes me all the sadder,” he said. Branch reflected on his parents, whom he never knew because of a Trollstice just after he was born, and nodded.

"We just have to keep their memories alive," Branch said.

" _Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain. Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain. The dark days are gone, and the bright days are here, My Sunny one shines so sincere. Sunny one so true, I love you."_ They turned to see Poppy had arrived with a large bouquet of flowers. The two trolls didn't hesitate to sing back,

" _Sunny, thank you for the smile upon your face. Sunny, thank you for the gleam that shows its grace.You're my spark of nature's fire,_ _You're my sweet complete desire. Sunny one so true, I love you._ " 

"I know what this day means to both of you," Poppy said with a small smile, "I'm here for you even if you don't think I am."

Branch and Peppy hugged her.

"Thanks, Poppy."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> —————————————————————————————————————————  
>  _Songs: “Amazing Grace” Lyrics John Newton/Tune of “New Britain”_  
>  _“Colder Weather” Zack Brown Band_  
>  _“Just a Dream” Carrie Underwood_  
>  _“Sunny” by Bobby Hebb_
> 
> —————————————————————————————————————————  
> Fun Fact: That _is_ the title for a King who has abdicated his throne for a child and is still alive.
> 
> This one is short, sweet, and to the point.


End file.
